Battle of Agincourt.

Reports at the time gave a sorry picture of a weary force of soldiers, diseased and short of food, marching through the French countryside, begging basic food supplies from the locals.
Thoroughly weakened, the prospects for the approaching clash were not good.

Pages

Books

Context reading

Ancient battles that changed the course of English history

Of the period.

Life in England around the time of Agincourt could, only, be described as harsh.
Healthcare as we know it was non-existent.
Rural settlement life was only just recovering from the Black Death era.
Subsistence cottager life under the thumb of local lords was just about sustainable as long as the winters were not too harsh.
High infant mortality, general bullying and brutality were rife.
Population levels low by modern counts.
Henry V's soldiers were drawn from a subservient population, well-used to the 'live for today' mantra.
The horrific, unimaginable battlefield actions that these soldiers had to initiate and follow through, are completely out of our modern experiences of life.
But, I argue, the lives of these brave men were so different to ours, as to be chalk and cheese.